The Soul Searcher
by RoseQuartz1
Summary: One-shots following Bubbles Utonium, in which she deals with life. Wish her luck.


**Hi! So, yes, this is technically a series a one-shots, but it will have a plot, however indiscernible. I mean, if I definitely decide to continue this. I have a second chapter, but the complete outline has yet to be finished. And I wrote this about six months ago, so you don't need to take it too seriously. It's all in good fun, especially in trying to stay true to the original feel of the show.**

 **Remember, reviews are like warm, friendly hugs!**

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The sun shined like a brilliant light bulb above Townsville, the sky a bright blue with few clouds. People of different colors and sizes briskly walked down cracked gray sidewalk, rushing about their daily business. Honking cars spewed gasoline fumes out their backsides while caught in traffic on the high way, their drivers spitting and cursing every other victim.

The highway stretched all across the danger-prone metropolis, connecting side-streets, the freeway, toll lanes, and ghetto neighborhoods where abuse and sorrow ran rampant; where children dropped out of school to pursue less successful dreams, crime and drug lords taking advantage.

Skyscrapers rose high above all lowliness, the effects of out-sourcing apparent. The giant glass-like buildings glittered in the glorious light of the sun, CEOs inside grinning with narrowed eyes. One greedily stared down at all the tiny little soon-to-be customers and glanced over a young woman.

She bounced up and down on the pads of her feet as she walked, pig-tails swinging. The sun spread across the extensive intersection and her blonde hair shone in the light. She sort of smiled but blinked and looked away. Gravel crackled beneath her feet as she stopped to shield her eyes. A car passenger leaned out of a red Lexus and shook a fist and swore in her general direction. She kept walking, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

The young woman knew he wasn't yelling at her, or even looking at her, but she was uneasy. Drivers always had so many ants in their pants. She giggled. Ants. In their pants. Red ones.

That'd show them.

She made an stretched half-smile at the upset man and quickly walked past the red Lexus. People pushed past her as she descended into the center of the throng and threw her off balance. She crashed into a fashionably dressed woman.

"Young lady! How dare you be so rude? Don't you know who I am?" She wore a flowery hat and a tight-fitting floral dress.

The abashed young woman withdrew looking anxiously at the older woman. "I'm so sorry, ma'am!" She said over the street noise. The eccentric woman sniffed.

"Quite right you are, young lady. I am Madame Ancienne and I will not be disrespected!" The young woman's eyes widened. She reached out and shook the woman's hand hardily.

"The famous fashion designer? Oh goodness, I love your new modern lines!" She clapped her hands in contentment. "Beautiful, just gorgeous."

The woman blinked. The girl had a strong grip, that was for sure. "Why, thank you, young lady. I did not know you were a fan. But do not forget! you still owe me for so rudely pushing into me."

"Um, Madame, I really am sorry, but I only pushed into you on accident. I'm not sure if that means I should have to owe you for something I didn't mean to do. No offense!" She held her hands to her chest, feeling like a basketball. The throng had pushed the pair into an alley. She then clutched her beaded hand bag, weary of the darkness their bright afternoon sun was unable to light up. The famous woman stared long and hard at the girl, who suddenly felt very, very small.

Madame Ancienne turned away. "None taken. I suppose you're right. There isn't anything you could get with hard work that I can't get with money." The girl could think of a few things.

The fashion guru straightened her back and looked at the young girl again, looking haughty. "What was your name again, child?" The girl straightened up, surprised. A celebrity wanted to know her name?

"Uh, my name is Bubbles, Madame. Bubbles Utonium."

The older woman tilted her head at Bubbles, eyes widening. "The Powerpuff Girl?" Bubbles averted her eyes.

"Yes, Madame." Madame smiled like a vixen.

"Well, I think I should like to have a _Powerpuff Girl_ as one of my fans. Perhaps we could get together sometime?" Bubbles' heart leapt.

Madame placed a hand on her hip. "We could work on publicity for my lines, you know. Since you love them so much, shouldn't we share them with the _world?"_ Bubbles heart dropped. Publicity. Fashion. Guru. Celebrity.

She'd seen it before, and felt the harshness that came with it in her naivety. Madame Ancienne may have been perfectly credible, but Bubbles knew when someone was trying to take advantage of her or her sisters.

She answered softly, "No, Madame. I don't believe that will work."

Her eyes narrowed, her scarlet lips frowning. "But you _owe_ me, remember?"

Bubbles hesitated, then answered, again softly, "No, Madame. We resolved that sensibly."

Madame straightened, glaring like a hawk. The crossed her arms and said, " _But-"_ But a voice interrupted her.

"Hands up, girls." A muscular arm shot around Madame's neck in a heartbeat, a sleek gun pointed at Bubbles. "Drop all your valuables and no one gets hurt." His companions snickered from the darkness.

Madame dropped her purse and squeaked as the masked men started to pat her down, in all the wrong places, snickering all the while. Bubbles flattened herself against the wall, fear coursing through her veins. She glared at the men, a tinge of red glowing in the corners of her light blue eyes.

"Well, aren't you a pretty little thing." A voice drawled. Another man had emerged from the darkness of the alley.

Bubbles didn't even glance at him. With a swift punch, he was sent flying down into the darkness, his girlish screams alerting the other thieves. But they were too slow. Bubbles kicked the first where the sun doesn't shine and kneed another under his chin. She shot around to the final one, in fighting position but he had already shot back into the darkness.

Bubbles exhaled and grimaced. Fighting wasn't her favorite hobby. She turned around to find Madame Ancienne stock-still, gazing glass-eyed at the wall. She looked emotionlessly at her and turned to the men on the ground. She nudged them, but they didn't move. Both out-cold, she supposed. She checked their pulses.

Their hearts were still beating. Hopefully the Madame's was, too.

Bubbles waved a hand, but all the Madame did was twitch an eye. Good sign. Perhaps the Madame had really good security, so mugging didn't happen. On that note, why was Madame Ancienne on her own in the big city? Any number of people could try to ransom the fashion mogul if the present situation was heard about in the criminal underworld. Bubbles bent down and picked up Madame's fallen purse. She glanced back at the darkness.

It was time to go.

"Madame. Madame! Snap out of it please! We should leave." Bubbles waved her hands back and forth in Madame's face. The woman grimaced.

"What? Oh yes. Quite right. We just _must_ be going, shan't we? Go, go, go!" She swung her arms, a manic look on her face.

"Madame, are you alright?" Bubbles angled an eyebrow at the older woman.

"Oh yes! Just fine! But I would really like to leave this alley, don't you?" She stepped closer to the sidewalk.

"It's okay to be scared. I understand if you've never been in that type of situation before, Madame." Bubbles clasped her hands behind her back and leaned sideways.

Madame Ancienne grimaced. "I have really good body guards." Bubbles blinked.

"Oh yes! _Why_ are you all alone out here? Those men will tell someone about their failure and they could come back after you or me or us."

Madame froze and her face twisted in fright. She breathed deeply. Bubbles said, "I should get you to safety."

"Yes, we should." She blinked. "But _first._ " A secretive glint suddenly lit up her eyes as she looked at Bubbles. "You wanted to know why I'm out alone, right?"

Bubbles felt uneasy again. "Yes, I suppose I did." Madame took her arm.

"I'll show you now." She quickly turned and pulled Bubbles into the aggressive throng.

"Madame!-"

"Oh, it's so nice to be out of that alley! The sun makes me feel so much better now." She briskly pushed past tacky tourists, dark-hooded strangers, and huffy, gray-suited businessmen and women. Bubbles kept switching her head from side to side, squeaking out apologies. "You'll just love the place I'm taking you, Bubbles. You'll just love it! Well, almost as much as my clothing lines, I hope."

"Uh, sure." Bubbles anxiously looked at her surroundings. "Madame! Where are we going?"

"We'll be there soon, Bubbles! Don't worry."

The glinting skyscrapers soon transformed into a shopping center of some sort with famous name brands and recently opened shops mixed up into twisting cobble stoned paths with antique gas lamps that no one actually used lining the streets. Popular music blared from somewhere over head.

The people were as mixed as the products being sold. Locals from nearby rundown neighborhoods ran the miniature mall and catered to fussy tourists whom _really_ needed the fashion police called on them. Bubbles would never be caught dead wearing too much sunscreen or socks with her sandals on vacations (if she ever got one). Madame kept on going past everything in a jog-run, Bubbles feeling like a loose piece of laundry or a kite. She might as well have let her tongue fly out her mouth, like one of those dogs you see on the highway.

"Oh, I'm sure you love this place already! It's all just so cute!" The old woman was reminding Bubbles of a child more and more. She suddenly stopped and Bubbles slammed into Madame Ancienne, but the woman didn't move a centimeter. The blonde girl stepped back and rubbed her head, dulling the throb.

" _Here. It. Is._ " Bubbles looked up and squinted unappreciatively in the sunlight. An average-sized Adobe building whose roof-top was lined with grooved eaves, entitled "Cascade Café" in metallic cursive. A metal gate with a pattern of curling vines wrapped around the building, encircling cushioned chairs and metal tables on concrete, each complete with a green umbrella to shade the customers from the afternoon sun. The front walls of the building had windows made of glass inlaid in the Adobe, and Bubbles could see a bar and a stage set up at the back.

Bubbles blink and innocently smiled. "Well, it is pretty cute." The older woman smiled at her, flipping her dyed-red hair.

"Yes, it is my favorite place in this town. Bubbles, this is why I was alone. My body guard and I have this deal, you see, dear. I can come here and be myself for a time and she can have time off." She giggled. "In other words, pay 'um all off and the tabloids don't find me."

"She? Your body guard is a woman?" Madame glanced at her.

"Oh yes. I feel I can relate to a woman better. Even a strong woman. I would feel so uncomfortable if I always had a man trailing me." She looked back at the café. "I don't have many true female friends. But my body guard is one." She laughed uncomfortably. "Or, at least I'd like to believe that. My husband's always so busy with his work, and I'm so busy with mine..." Madame trailed off. Bubbles looked at the ground quietly.

"I'm sorry if I just made myself seem lonely, Bubbles, but...not really. I have _crazy_ fans and tabloids looking for the next great scandal."

"Even celebrities need their privacy."

"Yes. Yes, we do." They were quiet again.

"I'm very sure you understand, Bubbles. Technically, you're a celebrity."

"I don't really feel like it. In your sense, I mean."

"Oh, pish-posh. I'm very sure boys salivate at the very sight of you."

Bubbles scoffed. "Very funny, Madame. My sisters are much more popular than me."

"Oh, pish-posh." They were quiet again, just feeling the late afternoon sun burn on their backs.

"Shall we go inside, Bubbles?" Madame Ancienne gestured towards the door where customers filed out.

"Oh, um, yes!" Bubbles squeaked. And they walked up. This time they didn't need to push through any throngs to stay alive; the customers were really just small groups of friends talking contentedly. A cool wind blew through the air around them and ruffled Bubbles' bangs. She hung her head scrambling to put them back in place.

"Oh Bubbles. Your hair is fine." They sat at a glass table located beside the glass walls. They watched the sun set and Madame spoke up again. "I owe you right?"

"Huh? Oh no, Madame. Fighting crime is my job." She waved it away with her hand.

"Now, now, Bubbles. I insensibly tried to hold you to owing me for an insensible thing and then you go and save me from being robbed or murdered or worse. The most I can do is give you a favor." She placed her chin on her hands. "Anything." Bubbles sighed.

"Alright. If you really mean it."

"Oh, I do, young lady."

Bubbles thought. And thought and thought and thought. But nothing she could ask the woman for came to mind.

"Can I just hold you to it for a while until I need something. I really can't think of anything." Madame Ancienne shook her head condescendingly.

"Of course, dear. Of course." She started to dig around in her purse. "Here's my card; whenever you finally need something." Bubbles took the card and stared at it. It was an official office card of THE Madame Ancienne! She would treasure it forever.

"Now I really must go, Bubbles. I was supposed to meet a friend here around this time. But, you know, things happened at we met, and she'll probably yell at me later for being stood up and my body guard really will be worried. We'll just keep the incident between us, won't you?" Bubbles nodded absent-mindedly. "Wonderful! It was so nice to meet you, Bubbles, and I do hope we will see each other again! Good bye, dear! Oh and if you want to be my body guard I would _love_ it!"

"Uh, no, I still don't think so, Madame." Madame laughed and waved as she briskly walked out the door, through the patio, and down the road.


End file.
